Marker holder



Oct. 1, 1957 F. N. REYNOLDS MARKER HOLDER Filed March 22, 1955 6 4 Rd w m r N T E 6 v/ A V N I. 1 r w 7 MM F United States Patent Ofiice 2,8fil897 Patented Oct. 1, 1957 MARKER HOLDER Frederick N. Reynolds, Augusta, Ky. Application March 22, 1955, Serial N 0. 495,949 2 Claims. (Cl. 4010) The present invention relates to an improved holder construction for a flower or plant identification tag, or the hke, and is particularly directed to a means of secunely fastening a marker upon a short, rod-like standard in position to display all the indicia appearing on the main face of said marker.

Objects of my invention are: clamp and standard which may readily and quickly be secured to a marker and positioned in the ground for the identification of flowers, or the like; to provide a holder that will securely grip only the peripheral bead of a marker plate and position it to effectively display its main face; to provide a novel means for fastening the marker to the associated rod-like standard; and to provide an extremely simple, economical but strong clamp and standard for flower markers, and the like.

Other objects will be apparent from the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of my holder construction and its associated marker in operative position.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmental section taken on line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a section taken on line 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged perspective View of the holder stamping.

The embodiment of my invention comprises a marker body 6 formed from thin metal, or the like, which has a rolled peripheral edge 7 that is octagonal in shape to provide at least one straight portion 8 along the bottom thereof for cooperation with a holder generally indicated by the reference numeral 9. The major faces 10 and 11 of the marker carry printed matter relating to a plant or flower and as best shown in Fig. 1 the main or obverse face 11 is adapted to bear the particular flower or plant identifying indicia 12.

My holder 9 is stamped from resilient sheet metal and has a one-piece, rectangular body out and formed in a particularly novel manner to produce improved holder features that will be apparent as the description proceeds. The holder body is formed with two spaced, parallel slits 13 and 14 which extend heightwise in the body and into the upper edge 15 of the body to form in the upper part of the body a pair of straight upwardly extending side fingers 16 and 17, respectively, that lie in the plane of the holder body and a laterally curved finger 18 disposed intermediate the said straight fingers 16 and 17.

The upper end portions of the fingers 16 and 17 are formed with inwardly facing curved portions 19 and 20, respectively, which are somewhat short of being semi-' circular in section as can be seen with reference to the showing in Fig. 2 of the drawing. The terminal ends of the fingers are turned sharply outwardly at 21 and 22, respectively, to provide a narrow marker face contacting ridge or abutment 23 and 24, respectively, for each finger. It is to be noted (Fig. 2) that the curved portions 19 and are formed on a larger radius than the rolled edge to provide a holder 7 of the marker so that said portions clear the rolled edge and the ridges 23 and 24 are the only parts of the fingers which engage the marker body. The intermediate finger 18 is sinuously formed in section to enhance its spring biasing action, the upper end thereof having an inwardly facing semicircular portion 25 opposed to the curved portions 19 and 20 on fingers 16 and 17, respectively, which terminates in a lip 26 that is inclined with respect to the plane of the holder body and extends somewhat above the level of the ridges 23 and 24 on the said fingers 16 and 17, respectively.

There is thus provided a holder that effectively engages the lower straight rolled edge portion of a marker without concealing any of the indicia appearing on the opposed major faces of the marker by reason of the fact that the curved end portions of the straight and intermediate fingers formed on the holder body encircle the rolled edge to bring the short terminal ends of said fingers into opposed clamping engagement with only minute marginal portions of the major faces of the marker that are closely adjacent the rolled edge therefor. Further the holder is adapted to hold the marker in an inclined position, with the main face 11 facing upwardly to effectively display the face for ready identification purposes. This is accomplished by the relative marker face contacting positions and construction of the terminal ends of the respective gripping fingers. As shown in Fig. 2 the ridges 23 and 24 urge the marker into engagement with the inclined lip 26 which determines the angle at which the holder will position the marker.

The lower portion of the holder body 9 has at least two pairs of cross slits 27-47 and 23- -28 formed therein which provide integral band portions 29 and 30 respectively for the body. Each band is forced sidewise away from the plane of the holder body to form with the body two straps for receiving the head 31 of a standard 32 made from heavy wire stock. As best shown in Fig. 4 the head 31 is enlarged with respect to the standard and is substantially triangular in section so that when it is forced axially into the straps on the holder a rigid and secure connection is made between them. The lower end of the standard is adapted for insertion into the ground 33 beside its respective flower or plant to be identified by the marker mounted thereon by the associated holder.

, While specific details of construction have been referred to in describing my invention, it will be understood that the details of construction can be varied within the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination with a marker having a flat Web and a peripherally disposed straight, rolled edge portion projecting laterally from both sides of the web of a holder body comprising a pair of spaced, upwardly extending side fingers lying in the plane of the holder body, an intermediate, laterally curved finger disposed between the pair of fingers and offset with respect to the plane of the holder body, each of the pair of side fingers and the central finger having, inwardly facing curved end portions, the said end curved portions each encircling a part of the straight rolled edge portion of the holder body, said intermediate finger terminating in an inclined abutment adapted to engage with a marginal portion of one major face of the marker adjacent the straight rolled edge portion, and said side fingers terminating in narrow ridge-like abutments on a level with the inclined abutment on the intermediate finger and in engagement with a marginal portion of the opposed major face of the marker at points closely adjacent the straight rolled edge portion therefor.

2. In combination with a marker having a flat web and a peripherally disposed straight rolled edge portion projecting laterally from both sides of the web of a holder body comprising a pair of spaced, upwardly extending side fingers, an intermediate finger disposed between the pair of side fingers, the pair of side fingers and the central finger having, inwardly facingbu'rved portions formed thereon, the said curved portions each encircling substantially half of the straight rolled edge portion of the holder body, and said curved portions terminating in marker body positioning abutments that engage and grip against marginal portions of the opposed major faces of the said marker that are adjacent the straight rolled edge portion therefor.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Feist Nov. 21, 1922 Long May 12, 1936 Hoofer Mar. 17, 1942 Green Feb. 8, 1949 FOREIGN PATENTS Germany Feb. 6, 1929 

